New Friends, New Loves
by MidnightNeko-0204
Summary: Tohru's childhood friend Riku has come for a visit and finds out about the Sohma secret. After each meeting with a member of the Mabudachi trio leaves her in an embarrassing position, she's got a big decision to make...
1. Meetings and Feelings

_Knock Knock Knock_

Hatori walked up to answer the door, his face in a cold expression. He was outside, smoking, thinking about Kana, once again, before he heard the knocking. He put out his cigarette and got up, stretching his limbs from sitting that long, and opened the door. He was immediately met with an overly cheery face and had to quickly step out of the way for the unknown girl had suddenly flung herself at him.

"Come on, Ha'ri. Let me hug you. I wanna see you turn into something utterly cute!"

Hatori could just stand there and stare at the girl, in a trance. "Um, no need to be rude or anything, but who are you and why are you here?" He added that last part with an extra tinge of spitfulness and regretted it when he saw the girl flinch. "And another thing, how do you know my name?" He added when he saw that she regained her posture.

"Uh, sorry, I just sorta got caught up in the moment that I forgot my manners. I'm Riku Momomiya. You might have heard about me from Tohru," she said hesitantly. "I don't know if she told you or not that I was coming to visit. I'm a childhood friend of hers and she asked me up here so I could meet you guys." She relaxed when she saw him give a slight nod. "You can probably figure out how I know your name."

"Right." He said, giving another nod. He then realized something important and immediately panicked. "What did you mean when you said that you wanted to see me turn into something utterly cute?!"

She looked up at his sudden change of tone and realized she exposed herself. She didn't want to answer the question but knew he would stare at her until she answered. "Well, I kinda know about the whole, um..." She trailed off, knowing he was smart enough to figure out the rest.

This made Hatori quite angry. "How do you know about the curse?! Did Tohru--" He cut himself for he knew that she would never spill their secret. So, how did this new girl know?

"Well, I sorta figured it out..." When she saw that he stared at her, waiting for an elaboration she continued. "When I first walked into Gure-san's house, I tripped and no one even bothered to help me. When I asked why, they all just looked away. I figured something was up so when Gure-san walked in the door, I unexpectedly jumped him and he turned into a dog. After I found that out, they explained the whole curse and why they didn't bother to help out before."

Hatori sighed and held his face in his hands. "I need to sit down," he said. He headed towards his bed and sat. Riku followed suit and was soon sitting by his feet, hers legs in a pretzel position. Realization dawned on him once again, as he looked toward the girl at his feet and sat wide-eyed.

"Um, yes?" She asked him, shrinking away from the look.

"What did you mean _utterly cute_?" She looked up at him and saw a barely visible blush sprinkled on his face.

"Oh," she said, giving a sigh of relief. "Well, as Tohru and Gure were explaining and listing the animals to me, a couple of them had caught my attention. The first one was Aya, the snake, because the snake is my second favorite animal in the whole world. The second one was you. As soon as I heard what you transformed into, I immediately asked them for your information and came over right away." She looked away, a light blush visible on her face.

Hatori sat back, shock clear on his face, before he recoiled and his usually expressionless face took over. "You do know that I don't turn into an actual dragon, right?"

She looked back at him and smiled, causing him to retract just a bit. "Of course, silly. Besides my favorite animal is the sea horse. Which is h I had to come over here immediately and hug you. Although I didn't know you were going to be this reluctant." The last part was meant for her ears only, but he still heard it.

Sighing, he said, "Fine. I'll let you hug me." When he saw the girl's face light up he blushed. 'I can't believe I'm actually doing this.' he thought. 'Ah well, she is Tohru's friend, but is that the only reason I'm letting her do this?'

He didn't get to ponder the thought any longer for when the girl heard that she was allowed to hug him, she jumped up and tackled him, sending them both off the bed. With a small 'Poof!', Hatori felt himself get smaller. He also noticed that he was being risen up and didn't realize what was happening until he saw the girl's face.

"Awwwwww," she cooed, rubbing her finger along the back of his spine. "You are the cutest little thing ever! I could just kiss you!" She paused and hesitated before asking,"Can I?" She felt movement in her hands and realized he was nodding. She leaned in and--

Poof!

She was now laying on top of a very naked Hatori, her hands pinned to the floor, so that there was enough space between their bodies so as he wouldn't transform again. But the was something else. After she realized what had just happened, she had failed to notice how she had fallen. When she got all her senses back, she felt something warm and cushy on her lips. Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her. She tore her lips away from his own and stared at him. Her face was a tomato red.

Hatori had to process what just happened in his mind slowly. One second he was miniature animal in the palm of someone's hand, the next he was laying on the flor in all his glory. He had never in his life, been this embarassed. If that wasn't enough, he had transformed back at the worst time. Instead off her kissing him on the cheek, her lips were planted firmly on his. He watched as she separated their lips and slowly got off of him, her eyes searching for a place to look. She bent down and handed him his clothes. He expected her to have a Tohru-like reaction; sputtering her words and blushing furiously, saying sorry over and over again. None of that happened. Instead, her reaction was quite enjoyable.

"Why did you turn this way?!" She saw him flinch and realized that he thought she was talking about his transformation. She decided to make it a little clearer. "The cheek! I was aiming for the cheek!" She heard him laugh and was relieved. Now, she needed to do a little more relieving. "Um, excuse me, but I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

Hatori nodded and watched as she walked away. 'What just happened?' He got up and got dressed and was on his way to smoke on his porch when he heard muffled voices in the bathroom. 'What's going on in there?' He walked up to the bathroom door and froze in mid-knock when he heard her speak.

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Riku looked at herself in the mirror and took a few deep breaths. That's when she really let it out.

"What did I just dooooooo?! He probably hates me now! After I wanted to be such good friends with him!" Her hands flew up to her head and she started rolling on the ground. "Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Nice going Riku! Not only did you get the guy who transforms into your favorite animal royally mad, but you made a _really _HOT guy mad at you.

There's no way he'll ever look at you the same again! Every time he looks at you, he'll probably think, ''There's the girl that tried to seduce me. I never want to see her again." Noooooooooooooooooo!"

_Thump_

She froze in mid-rant. 'What was that? It sounded like it was just outside of the door.' She walked up to the door hesitantly and slowly opened it. What she saw shocked her.

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"Nice going Riku! Not only did you get the guy who transforms into your favorite animal royally mad," Hatori frowned a bit at this. Is this all he thought of him? "but you made a _really _HOT guy mad at you." He blushed. I guess not. He listened as she continued. "There's no way he'll ever look at you the same again! Every time he looks at you, he'll probably think, 'There's the girl that tried to seduce me. I never want to see her again.' Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

By this point, Hatori was struggling to keep himself up. He had never laughed this hard in his life and this girl sure wasn't helping. 'Doesn't she know that that thought is logically impossible?' Hatori couldn't keep himself up an longer, falling to the ground with a thump. He watch the door open slowly, showing the girl, who had a concerned look on her face.

"Oh my gosh," she said, walking over to him. "Are you alright?" After she had come out of the bathroom, she saw Hatori laying on the floor, clutching his sides. It didn't take her long to figure out he was laughing. It took her even longer to figure out what he was laughing about.

"So, you heard me, huh?''

By now his laughter had died down and he was now sitting up. He gave a slight nod and watched as she blushed a dark red. He stared at her for a little while, as if trying to read her emotions.

'Oh god,' she thought. 'He must really hate me now. I mean, look at the way he keeps staring at me.' She shook her head and put it in her hands. 'I'm such an idiot...' She felt him reach for her chin and lift her head up. Her turned it so that they were now looking eye to eye. She had trouble looking away, for she got loss in the deep abyss of emotions that they portrayed. He leaned closer and she felt herself shrink back. She could fell his breath as he spoke to her and she could smell the remains of cigarette smoke.

"So," he said, leaning in even closer. "You think I'm _really hot_?" He saw her blush and was immediately broken out of his trance. He let go of her and sat back abrubtly. "I'm sorry. I have no idea what came over me."

"I-it's alright." She watched as he held his head in his hands and immediately tried to come up with something to break the tension. "So, do you let just anyone hug you, or what? 'Cuz you really shoudn't be hiding your adorably cute self away from the world." Her face broke into a grin when she saw that he blushed.

"Come on," he said, getting up. "Let me drive you home."

She nodded and followed him out the door, an extra pep in her step.

"You're staying by Shigure's, right?"

"Yup."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Silence had hung over the Sohma household. That is, until a certain someone came in from her little trip.

"Honey, I'm home!!" Riku shouted as she swung the door open. She walked inside the house, Hatori following behind.

"I'm in here!" A voice called from the direction of the kitchen. Riku ran to the kitchen and went up to hug Tohru when she was suddenly restricted from doing so. She gave her a questioning look when Tohru realized her mistake. "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm so used to having to do that."

"It's A-OK!" Riku said, giving Tohru a big hug. "It doesn't matter if it's Mommy. Oh, guess what? I brought someone home!" Tohru gave her a questioning look as she was dragged out of the kitchen into the living room. There she saw Hatori sitting on the couch. "I brought Ha'ri!"

At the sound of his nickname, Hatori turned and saw an overexcited Riku clinging to the arm of an embarassed Tohru. "I see..."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stay this long, I was just walking her to the front door when she invited me in."

"Oh, it's no problem at all," Tohru said. "I just wish I knew sooner. I don't know if there will be enough dinner..."

"Don't worry, I was planning on leaving in a few minutes anyway."

Tohru opened her mouth to protest, but didn't get a chance to say anything for the door opened revealing Shigure, Aya, and two extremely-less-than-happy teens.

"I don't see why we had to bring that stupid rat's brother home with us." Kyo spat.

"I usually disagree with you on everything, but I second that." Yuki chided.

"Ah, I feel so unloved!" Aya cried out dramatically. 'But I soon won't be for I heard that dear Tohru's friend loves snakes!'

"Haa-san!" Shigure cried out, startling the three of them. "I had no idea you were coming over! Did you do anything to our little flower while you were here?!"

Kyo, Yuki, and Hatori were just about ready to punch the dog when a voice interrupted them. "Of course not, Gure-san! How could you ever think that way? I invited Ha'ri over when he dropped me off."

Kyo and Yuki froze when they heard this new voice that they new did not belong to Tohru. They looked behind Hatori and saw a girl about their age clinging onto Tohru's arm.

"Ah, Riku! I didn't know you were home! I see your time at Haa-san's was well-spent." Shigure said, giving a knowing smirk. Hatori was really going to give it to him, when Riku stepped in front of him.

"Shut up!" She said, giving him a small punch on the arm. He shrunk away and Riku realized that there were people behind him. "Hello! Who are you guys?"

"I'm Yuki Sohma and this is Kyo," he said pointing to the sulking cat behind him.

"Ah, you must be the cat and the rat," she said, pointing first at Kyo and then at Yuki. She laughed when she saw them freeze. "I know about the whole curse thing. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"You better not," Kyo said. "Or I'd have to beat some sense into you."

"Kyo!" Yuki said, trying to defend the girl. "That isn't nice." He was confused when she started to laugh.

She composed herself and looked Kyo dead in the eye, a hint of evil glowing in them. "Try me."

Before anything else happened, Aya decided to interject. "I'm Ayame Sohma," he said, taking her hand in his and giving it a light peck.

She stared at him the man before her and gasped. 'So this is Ayame. He is... he is just wow!' She was lost in her thoughts until Shigure whispered something in her ear, making her remember that this was the moment she was waiting for. She looked back up at him and gave him a huge grin before launching herself at him.

"I'm so happy I finally get to meet you!" She said before her arms wrapped around his neck. A small 'Poof!' came afterwards. She turned around and was meet with confused faces.

"What just happened?'' Yuki said. Although he just saw it with his eyes, his brain refused to believe it.

"Do you know what you just did?" Kyo asked, too confused to be mad.

"Yeah, I hugged Aya. What's so wrong with--" The two watched her as she froze and her face was drained of any color. "Oh," she managed to squeak out.

They shot themselves at her, ready to take that damn snake out and rip it to bits before she did something unexpected. She started laughing.

"No-- Stop-- I can't breathe!" She had to grab onto something to keep herself propped up. It wasn't enough and she was soon rolling on the floor. "Oh my god-- Okay, okay, I give up! Just stop moving!" She felt the snake stop and watched as he poked his head out of the top of her shirt. She stared at him, wide-eyed.

"That's it." Yuki got up to go kill his brother, but was immediately held back by Shigure. He saw that he had a serious face, which hardly ever happened, and decided to do as instructed. 'I guess he wants to see what will happen. Although I don't think it will be good.' He saw her open her mouth and braced himself for the scream.

"Awwwwwwwwwwww! You are a cutie pie too! I really could kiss you, but I don't think I want another episode like what happened at Ha'ri's.''

Five minds tried to process what had just happened before them, while Hatori just hung his head in shame. Shigure's was the fastest. "What happened at Haa-san's?" You could almost hear the smirk in his voice, if you weren't already looking at him. He turned his head toward Hatori and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Ah... Well... I..." Riku started, struggling for words. "When I went to go kiss him on the cheek, he transformed back and I accidently kissed him..." She said, trailing off, the last part barely above a whisper. Shigure, being the dog that he was, heard everything.

"What?! You and Haa-san kissed?! I knew something had happened over there!" He looked between Hatori and Riku, a triumphant smile plastered on his face. Hatori just glared at him.

"Hey! At least it wasn't as bad as afterwards!" Ayame had transformed back by then and was now clothed.

"What happened afterward?" He asked, taking a place on the floor next to Riku. Although he didn't look it, Ayame was jealous that something had happened between the two. He didn't know why and it bugged him.

"Well, I went to the bathroom to give him some time to change and for me to cool my head. When I walked out, I found him on the floor, laughing at me. Apparently he had heard what I said and preceeded to tease me afterwards!" She puffed out her bottom lip and crossed her arms, not knowing that by doing this, she made all five Sohmas blush.

"Hey," Hatori started. "I'm not the one who called me _really hot, _now am I?"

"You're doing it again!" She exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Don't get too excited there, 'cuz you now have some compition." She turned Ayame's head so that he was facing her and kissed him. She pulled away before it got too heated and smirked.

Things got overly awkward in the next few seconds and Riku knew she had to get away. "Uh, Tohru. Can you please lead me towards the direction of your bathroom please?"

Tohru nodded and got up to show her the way, happy to get out of the tension-filled room.

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Riku supported herself on the edge of the bathroom sink as she stared at herself in the mirror. 'What is wrong with you?! Do you have no self-control whatsoever?!' She made sure that she voiced all these thoughts in her head, afraid of someone overhearing--again. Until she couldn't take it any longer.

"Gahhhhhhhhhhhh! Seriously, do I need a muzzle or something?! Am I just one big kissing machine or something?! Lord help me!" She started to roll on the floor for the second time that day.

"Okay, Riku, you need to calm down and think about what just happened. Think about the pros and cons of the situation. Cons: The two guys I kissed hate me to all oblivion and wish to have nothing to do with me. For another thing, I just made everyone feel really uncomfortable and they probably hate me as well. Pros: I just got to kiss two really hot guys, one of them being drop dead gorgeous, the other making me want to sink my teeth into him. Oooooooh yum, Hatori on a stick..."

Getting lost in her own little world of Hatori ice cream, she failed to notice the door that had been swung open earlier. The person now standing in the doorway was desperately trying to hold back a blush, hs attempts useless.

_Thump._

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Tohru came back downstairs and the sight that greeted her was a little less than surprising. Hatori and Ayame were sitting on opposite ends of the same couch and although the space separating them were three feet, it felt as if they were miles apart.

Shigure was in one of the armchairs, managing to smirk while looking serious at the same time. Kyo and Yuki were sitting at the table in front of the couch, both deep in thought, trying to process just how crazy this girl was.

Hatori was the first to break the silence. "Ah, Tohru. I heard her call you 'Mommy' earlier. Why was that?"

Tohru blushed slightly at this. "Well, Riku and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. Riku's mom died giving birth to her and I always sort of acted like a mom to her so the name just came attatched."

"Oh, I see." Hatori said, immediately feeling bad for asking.

The room was again silent until: "Gahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Hatori and Tohru jumped up and froze, each staring at the other. Tohru hesitantly sat down so Hatori took this as a sign that he could go and started up the stairs. He could feel the others staring at him but brushed it off. 'So what, if this looks a bit suspicious. For once in my life, I don't really care.'

He reached the bathroom door and swung it open, ready to help Riku with whatever she needed. "Riku, are you--" He cut himself off when he spotted her rolling on the floor. 'Ahhhhh, she's having one of her "episodes" again.' He tried to surpress a laugh when she started talking again.

"Okay, Riku, you need to calm down think about what just happened. Think about the pros and cons of the situation." He watched as she pondered this and wondered what she would come up with. His thoughts were interrupted when she again spoke up. "Cons: The two guys I kissed hate me to all oblivion and wish to have nothing to do with me." He inwardly rolled his eyes. Why did she always assume people would hate her? Sure, he was mad beca-- Wait, what?! Why was he mad? It's not like he likes her or anything, right? 'Focus Hatori, focus'He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and continued listening.

"For another thing, I just made everyone really uncomfortable and they probably hate me as well." Again with the hating issues. Seriously this girl needs some self-confidence. "Pros: I just got to kiss two hot guys, one of them being drop dead gorgeous," Hatori blushed at this. He wasn't _that _hot, was he? Oh god, he was starting to sound conceited. "...the other making me want to sink my teeth into him." He got angry at this. He was only drop dead gorgeous but the _snake _was so delictable she'd like to eat him?! Okay, now he knew he was going crazy because he did NOT just think that.

"Ooooooooh, Hatori on a stick..." Okay he's had enough. Blushing furiously, he felt his knees give out as he dropped to the floor.

_Thump._

Riku turned around to see a blushing Hatori leaning against the door frame. 'Holy shit. Please tell me he didn't hear that.' They locked eyes and when she saw a smirk cross his face, she knew that he had. 'Oh boy, am I in for it'

"So, you think I'm delicious on a stick, huh?"

She threw out her hand, her finger pointing accusations at him. But before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his chest, but not close enough to transform. "Why don't we confirm that theory, ne?" He pulled her in for a kiss but the clearing of someone's throat brought Hatori back to senses.

Frustrated that he had stopped, Riku closed the gap in between the two and kissed him quickly. Hearing the familiar tap of a foot, the sound she always heard when she got caught doing something bad by Mommy Tohru, she pulled away and looked up.

The two were now staring into the faces of a confused Kyo, a surprised Yuki, a smirking Shigure, a pissed Tohru (which Riku knew was very bad because Tohru was NEVER pissed), and a very livid Ayame.

Boy, would there be a lot of explaining to do.

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Hello everybody! I'm MidnightNeko-0204 and this is my first Fruits Basket fanfic!! Yay!! ^_^ As you can see, I've put in my own OC because I thought it would make the story a little more interesting. I'm actually a little jealous though, she gets to kiss hot guys! I realized that Hatori seems a little OOC but bear with me cuz' he's supposed to be that way in this story. **

**I wasn't going to put this up originally and just keep it for myself but then i thought "Why the heck not?" That's also the reason why this author's note is at the end instead of the beginning. -_-'' Anyway, please R&R and I will love you forever and ever. If not, I will send you Riku when she's all hyped up on sugar and trust me, you do NOT want that. (I will also set her on you in you flame, SO PLEASE NO FLAMING!! I HAVEN'T GOTTEN ONE YET BUT I'VE READ A COUPLE AND THEY ARE HURTFUL SO PLEASE DON'T DO IT!!!! DX) **

**Just a reminder, this was written for fun when I was bored so again, bear with me if people are OOC.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or anything associated with it. I do, however, own this plot and my OC.**


	2. Confrontations

**Hello everyone! I just want to say thanks to you that reviewed my story! You made me all warm and fuzzy on the inside, plus you gave me inspiration to update so 'Yay!' to you. Um, um, um, I don't really know what else to say except enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fruits Basket or anything associated with it. I DO own this plot and OC.**

* * *

Things were, again, overly awkward in the Sohma household.

Hatori and Ayame again sat at the ends of the same couch, however, this time Riku was in between them. Her head was down and her hands were in her lap, her face an extremely dark red. Hatori and Ayame's faces were equally as red, but for different reasons. Hatori's from embarrassment, Ayame's from anger. (He wasn't going to admit that he was jealous. He just wasn't!!)

Kyo and Yuki were sitting at the table, staring (more like gawking, but whatever) at the girl in front of them. They each made a mental note to never get too involved with her. Shigure was sitting in the same armchair, smirking widely. He had just witnessed something he had never seen before in his life and wanted to see more. 'The only way for that to happen,' he thought. 'Is to keep this girl around Haa-san at all times...' He smirked evilly and intended to do just that.

Tohru was standing in the doorway, positively seething and was just about ready to punch someone. And, although she definitely is not one for violence, she WILL resort to whatever she needs to to get through to Riku that she needs to stop kissing just about everyone she sees. When Tohru was done with her, she wouldn't even want to look at another man, let alone kiss them. Sighing, she shook her head. 'That won't do me any good. Plus, she's never kissed anyone more than once, so why...' She trailed off, not wanting to think about it. Instead, she let her thoughts wander to what had just happened five minutes earlier.

_-Flashback-_

Tohru had sat back down after hearing a cry from the bathroom and watched as Hatori went to check on Riku. She looked around the room and noticed that everyone was lost in their own little world. She started to feel a little uncomfortable at the fact that no one was talking but decided to focus on what was happening upstairs. 'Riku probably fell and Hatori-san's treating her,' she thought, not quite sure of it herself. 'That has to be it. It's just gotta be that...'

Shigure was sitting in his armchair, deep in thought. 'Well that was an interesting little scene. This girl just managed to waltz right into our lives, find out about the secret, and start a kissing spree. I wonder if I'll be next...' He was snapped out of his happy little (and slightly perverted) thoughts when a certain someone's name popped into his mind. 'Oh no, what will happen when Akito finds out about this? I hope nothing happens, I quite like this quirky girl around. Ah well, let's just hope he doesn't find out.' He then went back to thoughts of Riku while thoughts of Akito pressed in the back of his mind.

Kyo and Yuki found themselves agreeing on more things than they thought. Of course, neither of them knew this for they kept it to themselves. 'Okay then... Tohru's other friends I can handle, but this one, I'm just not sure I can.' Kyo thought. 'I mean, what the freak is with her and kissing everyone?! She has got some issues...'

'Hmm, I know Tohru has her share of ...interesting friends, but this one is the most interesting one of the bunch.' Yuki pondered. 'Is it just me or does she like kissing almost every guy she sees? Well, if Tohru is happy with her then there's nothing I can do...'

Ayame was seething on his side of the couch. When Hatori got up to go help Riku, he wanted to pull him back down, knock him out, and walk upstairs whistling like nothing happened. And the worst part about it was, he didn't know why! It's not like he was mad that she and Hatori had kissed. I mean, she still kissed him too, right? That had to count for something! ...Right? 'Jeez, why am I getting so flustered over the fact that she kissed him? Or the fact that he practically ran upstairs to help her.? OR the fact that she saw him naked?' He immediately sat up straight as if this something had just occurred to him. She saw him naked!!! That's it!

He stood up abrubtly, startling everyone out of their thoughts. "How long is this going to take?!" He started up the stairs and noticed that everyone trailed along behind him.

He suddenly stopped a little ways from the bathroom door, for the sight in front of him was quite shocking. Not noticing his actions, Kyo, who had been behind Ayame, bumped into his back. He managed to let everyone know to stop before turning to the silver-haired man in front of him.

He was about to hiss curses until he caught Ayame's gaze. He followed it and gasped. He motioned to the others in back of him and heard a collective round of gasps.

There, sitting in the doorframe of the bathroom, was Hatori, blushing furiously. They turned their heads slightly and saw Riku sitting on the floor, her legs in a folded position.

"So, you think I'm delicious on a stick, huh?" They heard him say. They turned back to him and saw that he was smirking in a very Shigure-like fashion. They all stared, too shocked to do anything but. (The aforementioned was smirking as well.) Their eyes widened when they saw what Hatori did next.

Riku had pointed a finger at him, but Hatori took this as an opportunity to grasp her hand and pull him close to him. They weren't close enough to transform, but they were close enough to make the five spiers shift uncomfortably.

"Why don't we confirm that theory, ne?" They watched as Hatori gradually pulled the heavily blushing Riku closer towards him. Just as their lips were about to touch, Ayame felt the need to interject. (Again, he didn't know why, he just did.) He cleared his throat, immediately taking Hatori out of his daze, but it wasn't enough for Riku.

The five found themselves again just watching as Riku closed the gap between the two, kissing him fully on the lips. This time, Tohru felt the need to interject and knew just the trick to get Riku to listen. She tapped her foot in a very pissed off (and unlike-Tohru) way. She smiled inwardly as Riku froze visibly and pulled away. The two slowly turned their heads and gulped.

They have a LOT of explaining to do.

_-End Flashback-_

So now here they were. Each trying to figure out a way to bring up the subject in their heads and each one failing miserably. Riku shifted uncomfortably, looked up, and opened her mouth to speak. She caught Tohru's eyes and closed her mouth immediately. The eyes spouted pure anger. She knew that she shouldn't be the one to speak at this moment.

Tohru cleared her throat as she straightened herself from her slouched position. "Sohma-san, I think it's best if you and Ayame both leave. Come back tomorrow so we can clear everything up." She then turned to Shigure, Kyo, and Yuki. "If you guys don't mind, I'd like to speak with Riku privately."

Shigure stood up and said, "Welp, it's getting late so we might as well all get to bed. G'night everybody." He turned to Riku and mouthed, "Good luck."

Tohru turned to watch as the three headed up to their bedrooms before turning back to find Riku, Hatori, and Ayame at the door.

"Well, um, good night then..." Riku desperately tried to fight the blush off her face, with no success. Hatori leaned down and placed a tender kiss upon her cheek.

"Good night, Ri-ku..." he purred silently. He stood up and Riku saw the slight smirk that graced his face. Being slightly thrown off by this, she didn't realize that he had already walked away and gotten into his car until she heard the slight rev of it.

Turning to Ayame, she noticed that her hand was in his, and was being raised up to his lips. He gave it a small peck and smiled slightly. "Good night, Riku-chan." He let go of her hand and turned to walk home. Once she saw he was safely down the road, she closed the door and leaned on it, breathing heavily.

She turned, ready to face the wrath, when she saw that there was none. Instead, she saw a smirking Tohru. Riku knew that face. Tohru was going to attempt to play matchmaker. It had been happening ever since they were younger and stumbled upon Riku's little problem. Tohru's solution was to find her a boyfriend so she wouldn't be tempted to kiss anyone else. The only problem was, that by the time Tohru had convinced the guy to at least _try _to go out with her friend, she was always found kissing someone else. It had always failed in the end and they had given up on trying -- until today.

When Tohru saw how both men reacted to the kisses (Hatori's going so far as to initiate a kiss himself), she knew this time would be different. The only problem was, which one? Hatori seemed to be the ideal one, being a practiced doctor and everything, but Ayame was just too darn sweet! However, Tohru saw the changes in Hatori ever since Riku came along. She thought back to the smirks and the teasing, but shook her head, believing she was just overthinking it.

"Tohru!! Tohru!! TOHRU!!!!!!!!"

"Huh? What?" Tohru blinked a couple of times, letting her eyes adjust to the scene in front of her. Riku had moved in front her and started waving her arms, trying to get her attention. When that didn't work, she resorted to calling to her, getting louder with each call, but careful to keep it low as to not wake up the sleeping housemembers.

"Are you okay? You were smiling to yourself and giggling like a mad person! What's gotten into you?"

Tohru smiled evilly, causing Riku to lean back a little. "When's the last time you had a boyfriend?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!_

"Argh! Shut up already!!!!!" Riku took the pillow she was laying on and threw it at the nearby window. It stuck in the window frame, causing her eyes to be shielded from the blinding sunlight, something she was thankful for.

Not getting much sleep last night after her talk with Tohru, she was in a cranky mood. Remembering Hatori and Ayame were supposed to be coming over later on did not make her feel any better, thinking about what she had to do with each one in the near future.

"Hey, I already have two trouble-makers destroying my house. I don't need another one."

"FGYAHHHHHHH!!!!" The unexpected voice caused Riku to jump so forcefully, she fell off the couch she was currently residing on. Digging herself out of the mountain of blankets she had on top of her, she glared up at Shigure as he entered the room, chuckling slightly.

She watched as he made his way over to his chair, purposely stepping over her and not helping. "Oh, no, really. I'm fine. It's not like I need help or anything." She blew a piece of hair that had fallen in front of her face and sighed.

"Good. I wasn't planning on helping you anyway." He watched out of the corner of his eye as she childishly mimicked him. "So, how did your talk with Tohru go?" He smirked slightly as she visibly froze.

"Is anyone else up?"

Her question startling him, it took him a few seconds to answer. "No, it's just the two of us. Why?"

In two seconds flat, she was up off the floor and leaning over him. Bringing her mouth close to his ear she whispered, "Can you do me a favor?" She brought her face back, slightly dragging the tip of her nose against his cheek. She cupped his cheeks in both of her hands and leaned her forehead against his, looking deep into his eyes,

He gulped slightly before bringing his hands around to her waist, moving her closer to him. "And what kind of favor would this be?"

She gave a tiny smirk. "Just a small one. Nothing too big or too hard, especially for you." She brought her hands down to his shoulders, massaging them slightly, before bringing them to down to rest on his chest.

By this time, Shigure was practically panting, but decided to play along with her little game anyway. "What about the others?"

Getting tired of the charade she answered, "What they don't know won't hurt them." It was then that she leaned down.

* * *

Humming to herself slightly, Riku rummaged around the house looking for something that would help her greatly in her situation. The object's location still unknown, she turned to Shigure, exasperated, figuring he knew where it was.

He sighed and said, "It's up in my room. I'll go get it." He trudged up the stairs silently, being careful not to wake the others. A few minutes later, he came back down, the offending object in tow. He walked over to Riku and placed it in her hand, allowing her to do what the object was needed for.

"Come on." She tugged him slightly and walked towards the door. Sticking a note on it, notifying where she and Shigure went, she walked outside and locked the door behind her. Walking down the front steps, she was suddenly jerked back. Turning around, she saw Shigure standing still, refusing to move even an inch.

"Why am I letting you do this again?" He shook his head and sighed, already tired.

"Because you're the awesomest and you love me?" she said hopefully. He looked at her skeptically and raised an eyebrow. "Oh fine! It's because I needed someone to talk to and you were the only one I could speak with."

"Fine, I understand that, but why--"

"Enough chitchat. Let's move!"

They were now walking side by side in silence before Shigure spoke up again. "So where are we going exactly?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe somewhere peaceful and quiet. A park maybe?" She looked at him and he nodded in approval.

"A park sounds nice."

A few minutes later, they were met by an elderly woman pushing a baby carriage. "My, my, what a cute dog you've got there. What's his name?"

'Ah, what should I do?! I didn't think about this! Should I tell her his real name or should I make one up? If I tell her his real name, she might know Shigure and think I'm some crazy weirdo-stalker girl who names their dog after their object of affection or something like that!! But, if I were to come up with a name, what name would it be?! Or maybe I can say he doesn't have a name! Or maybe--'

"Ow!" She looked down at Shigure, who had just kicked her in the leg. He looked at her expectantly as if to say, "Just tell her my name, you idiot!"

She looked back up to the elderly woman, who had watched intently as she had an internal battle with herself. "His name is Shigure, or Gure, for short." She smiled, causing all signs of worry on the woman's face to disappear. 'Phew, it doesn't seem as if she knows him.'

"Oh, I see." The woman looked down at Shigure and smiled. She reached her hand out tentatively. "May I?"

"Go right ahead."

She scratched lightly behind his ears, causing him to wag his tail. With each passing minute that the woman scratched, Shigure's tail wags got fiercer. It was only a matter of time before he flew off the pavement.

Putting the petting on hold, she politely told the woman that she must be on her way and hoped to see her soon. She looked down at Shigure to see that he was sulking. "What's the matter with you?"

He looked up at her sharply and said, "Why'd you make her stooooop?"

Riku just rolled her eyes and continued walking ahead into the park. "Perv."

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________First off, I'd just like to say that I'm really, really, really, really (times a million) sorry! I know that you've been waiting for an update and now, you've finally got it! YAY!!**

**Another thing I'd like to say is that I'm also really sorry for this chapter being kinda sucky. It doesn't have that fun and playful feeling the first chapter had, does it? So for those of you who were expecting something witty and endearing, this definitely wasn't it, so sorry to disappoint.**

**I also don't like the fact that it's a lot shorter than the first chapter by about half. I really had writer's block on this story, and I wrote everything after the flashback in one night after reading a load of Ouran High School Host Club fics. (Don't own by the way.) Weird, ain't it?**

**Anyway, enough with the author's note. If you didn't think this chapter was completely boring and suckish, please R&R.**


	3. Calamity Jane's Incarnate

**Hey, I'm alive! Jeez, it's really hard coming up with a plot for this story seeing as I just make it up as I go along. Now that school's started back up again, it'll be even harder for me to find time! Maaaan, 10****th**** grade is hard… Can I just graduate and get it over with? It won't matter if I miss two years, right? Eh, whatever. I'll stop ranting about school now.**

**Enjoy the third installment!**

The whole walk to the park thing ended up being a complete disaster. Riku had to stop walking numerous times to hug Shigure, to stop him from changing back into a human from prying eyes.

When asked why she did this, she simply responded, "I just love him so much, I get the urge to hug him every five seconds." When looked at oddly, she just flashed them a smile and thought, 'What do you want me to say? That I'm paranoid that my "pet" might pop back into a human any second now, and cause you to have mental issues for the rest of your life? Didn't think so.'

After about an hour of this, the traveling pair finally got to the park and sighed in relief upon finding a vacant bench a few feet away. They walked over to it and Riku sat down as Shigure stood, staring expectantly at her.

"What?" She watched as he rolled his eyes and nudged her messenger bag. "Oh, right." Reaching up and over, she took the bag off and placed it in Shigure's waiting jaw.

She could hardly contain her laughter as she watched him scamper off to the nearest bathroom, but could no longer hold it in when she saw the profound cloud of smoke that indicated his transformation. She wasn't sure how hard she was laughing or for how long, but figured it was a while when she heard Shigure's voice above her.

"Ha ha, very funny. Why do you enjoy embarrassing me? Although, I'm not the one on the ground, so I don't see why I'm embarrassed." Make that above her.

She opened her eyes to find that she was, in fact, lying on the ground. She looked up at Shigure's smirking face, and rolling her eyes, took the hand he extended out to her. He pulled and she unexpectedly jumped, causing him to stumble back and grab onto her for support, pulling her close. Their lips were about to touch when they were interrupted by a confused,

"What's going on here?"

~_tt_~

Tohru woke with a start, sitting straight up in bed. Confused as to why this was, she looked over to the clock on her nightstand and gasped. It was already a quarter past nine and she hadn't even started breakfast yet. She jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, quickly brushing her teeth and throwing on a robe. Hurrying down the stairs, she flew past the living room, into the kitchen…

And froze.

Wide-eyed, she took a few steps back and poked her head around the corner into the living room. Bringing her hand up to her mouth, she whispered, "Oh, my gosh."

She tip-toed quietly towards the far corner of the living room. Tohru blinked and rubbed her eyes. She shook her head; did most anything to wake herself up, but to no avail. She had not suddenly found herself back in her bed, nor did the image in front her change.

She slowly tried to wrap her mind around it. 'Riku and Shigure. Sleeping in a chair. Together?' She closed her eyes once more and when she opened them she did, in fact, see Riku sleeping peacefully on Shigure's lap, who was sleeping just as peacefully, together on his chair.

What's going on here?

It wasn't until Shigure popped open his eyes, that Tohru realized that she had said that last statement aloud. Yawning, he rubbed his eyes and stretched. Noticing Tohru he said, "Good morning." Realizing she didn't answer, he looked over to her and noticed she was staring at his lap.

Following her gaze, he looked down and gasped. 'Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.' He held his breath as Riku's eyelids fluttered open and her gaze locked with his. "Good morning, Riku-chan."

She stared at him for about half a minute before saying, "Uh, good morning..?" Suddenly, everything came flooding back. The walk to the park. Falling on the floor. The almost kiss… Riku blushed deeply at the thought. 'But what had happened after that? When did I get home? HOW did I get home? More importantly, why am I sleeping on Shigure's lap?'

Shigure smiled knowingly at the blush. Tapping her nose he said, "I know what you're thinking about."

If possible, Riku blushed even harder. Suddenly a look of dawned realization appeared on her face. "What in the heck am I still doing on your lap?"

Tohru froze, her foot in mid-tap. 'Huh?'

Smiling, he said, "Isn't it because you just love me so much!" Bringing his arms around, he pulled her closer.

Rolling her eyes, she said, "Yeah, right. You wish!"

He quirked his eyebrow. "Oh, really..?"

Riku closed her eyes and nodded, unable to see what Shigure planned to do next. Smirking, he lifted his arms up, placing his hands underneath Riku. Then, lifting up suddenly, he sent her tumbling off his lap and onto the floor.

"Aah—Oof!" Lifting her head, she glared at Shigure through her bangs. "You're dead to me."

Laughing uncontrollably, he made a move to get up when he noticed that Tohru was still standing there. "Tohru! I completely forgot you were there!"

"Tohru?" Riku swerved her head around so fast, she could've sworn she got whiplash. Bringing her hand up to the back of her neck, she started to rub it. "Owww…"

"Good morning to you, too, Riku."

"Right! Good mor—Ow!" Riku had bolted upright, into a sitting position, when her head collided with a certain someone's knee.

"Well, well, well. Someone's being a little accident prone this morning, eh?"

"I am VERY tempted to punch you right now."

"Ooooh, I'm so scared…"

"You better be. I'll make sure to punch you where the sun don't shine. Just be weary of that."

Knowing that comment would irk Shigure on, Tohru yelled out, "Guys! Enough with the fighting!"

Both stopped at once and looked towards her, apologetic looks on their faces.

~_tt_~

The rest of the morning went normally. Well, as normal as it gets in the Sohma household—especially with Riku in the mix. Over the course of the next hour, Yuki and Kyo came downstairs; the former offering to help with breakfast as the latter rolled his eyes and muttered something about a stupid rat.

Riku and Shigure got into three more fights, about lord knows what, causing Tohru to finally crack and put them in their own separate corners to give her some peace and quiet. It was short-lived, however, when Riku found a pillow and forcefully threw it at Shigure, causing him to retaliate and throw it back at her. This started an all-out pillow war that not even Tohru could stop. Trying to at least catch one of the pillows, she stood in the middle, getting hit every which way, select feathers landing in her hair.

The worst part came when Yuki, who had been standing in the doorway of the kitchen and trying not to laugh, noticed there was a knock at the door. He carefully made his way through the battlefield, skillfully avoiding a stray pillow here and there, to the door. Opening it, he was thoroughly shocked to find both Hatori and Ayame standing there. It took him a good 30 seconds to gather his remaining functioning brain cells to invite them in.

Walking into the living room, the three froze in their tracks. In front of them was the remains of the pillow war, stray feathers still floating in the air around them. However, the most surprising scene was the one in the middle. Tohru was in between, miraculously keeping Shigure and Riku from strangling each other, while still managing to keep away from Shigure's torso area.

Not knowing what else to do, Yuki cleared his throat, hoping the three would get the message. Thankfully, they did and looking over, their eyes widened in shock. Smiling sheepishly, they untangled themselves from one another and stood there awkwardly. Shigure and Riku did everything possible to keep from making eye-contact with anyone, occasionally whistling. When they realized they were doing the same thing, they glared at each other before noticing Tohru was no longer between them.

Looking over towards the door, they saw Tohru leading the guests their way, into the kitchen. Quickly glancing at one another, they had a mutual understanding and dived to the side when the trio came near. Cautiously, they poked their heads out of their hiding spaces and saw Yuki walk by, shaking his head.

And where was Kyo during all of this? Walking back into the kitchen to ask when breakfast would be ready, he realized no one was there and that the stove was still on. Panicking slightly, he walked over to it and looked at it in disdain. Deciding he had absolutely no way to salvage the food, Kyo just turned everything off and covered it. Luckily, this was exactly what needed to be done, so when Tohru came in toting the guests, breakfast was good and ready to go.

~_tt_~

So now, here they were, the six of them all sitting around the table and eating their breakfast, an awkward silence in the air. Riku fidgeted in her seat, thinking it couldn't have been any worse. Hatori on one side, Ayame on the other, and the fact that Shigure was sitting directly in front of her didn't make it any better.

'Shigure…' As she thought this, Riku saw her hand inching towards her food and she knew exactly what she was about to do. Smirking inwardly, she picked up her bread and—

"So, what brings you two here?"

The look on Tohru's face made Riku drop the bread immediately. Although the question and the smile was directed at the two men on either side of her, Tohru's eyes were solely focused on Riku. Those eyes…she shivered. This is really where that whole, 'if looks could kill,' thing comes into place. Riku wasn't the only one who knew what she was about to do and Tohru definitely had to put a stop to it. Why was she wasting her time fighting with Shigure when she had important decisions to make? Like, I don't know, WHICH GUY TO CHOOSE?

"Well, I had just finished making a new dressand I really wanted to see how it would look on you."

"Why thank you," Riku said, turning to her left. "But why would you want me to try it on?"

"Ha ha. That's because it's for you, silly." Ayame said, tapping her nose on the word 'you'.

Blushing, she said, "Oh, right. That makes sense." She turned over to her right. "And you, Hatori?"

"Well, it was nothing special. I was planning on taking you out. Maybe we could go for a walk in the park or something like that."

"Yeah, that sounds like a nice idea. I would like that." Going back to her food, she noticed Shigure smirking out of the corner of her eye. Keeping her eyes on her food, she said, "Why are you smirking?" Suddenly…

Dropping her chopsticks, Riku looked up, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. Before anyone could say anything, she stood up abruptly and started walking towards Shigure. Pointing at him she said, "We need to talk." She continued walking into the room behind him.

Shigure got up slowly and said, "Excuse me folks, but as you can see, I—"

Walking back into the kitchen, she grabbed Shigure's shirt collar. "NOW." She dragged him off, once again leaving everyone shell-shocked.

Tohru sighed and put her head in her hands. "Not again…"

~_tt_~

"What? Why are you staring at me like that? You're the one who practically dragged me here!"

"So you really don't know why we're here?"

Shigure's eye twitched. "You haven't said anything! One minute, I was enjoying my breakfast, the next I'm being dragged into my study! Which, by the way, can we not speak here? This is kind of like my sanctuary and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't disrupt the peace."

"Argh, I'll disrupt YOUR peace if you don't shut up!"

Shigure put his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay. I'll be quiet, just calm down a little bit."

Riku coughed. "Ah, sorry. I'm just agitated. What with those two outside and what had happened between us at the park."

"What happened at the park?"

Riku stared at him. "Are you serious?" He just shrugged his shoulders. She sighed. "You know… With the whole… We almost… You know!" He blinked. "Ugh! We kinda," she leaned in closer and whispered. "Almost kissed."

She sat back and watched as he started laughing. "What? Why are you laughing?"

"I know what you're talking about," he said in between laughs. "I just wanted to hear you say it. Oh boy, did you struggle."

"Oh, you think it's funny?" She smacked his arm. "Jerk." Sighing, she threw herself into his lap. "I don't understand why I almost kissed you when honestly, I don't even want to. It's weird you might be the first person on my no-kiss list."

She looked up at him quickly. "No offense, of course."

He smiled back down at her, his white teeth shining brightly. "Of course." He was playing with her hair at this point, although neither party noticed.

"I hate you."

Shigure looked up, his smile slightly faltering. "I hate you, too."

Bringing her hands up to her face, she sighed again and said, "What am I going to do? I've got two great guys out there waiting for me and I'm in here with you and—oh my god! There are people outside!"

She brought her hands down and jerked back when she realized that Shigure had gotten closer. "Wh-What are you doing?"

Smirking he said, "Why don't I just kiss you and get it over with?" Seeing her impressively accurate impression of a wide-eyed doe only seemed to spur him on, causing him to close his eyes.

Reacting quickly, Riku did the first thing that crossed her mind—slapping her hands across his mouth. "Wait—"

_SWISH, CRASH_

Startled, the two looked up to see a very angry group of people standing in a now broken doorway. Looking back from the group, to the man above her, and back to the group, she said, "This is REALLY not what it looks like."

The two watched as Tohru pushed her way to the front of the group. Shigure noticed that Riku was shaking violently in his arms. Looking down at her, he stared in shock as he got glimpses of various horrified expressions as they flit across her face.

Tohru walked over to them and leaned down, causing Riku to flinch, as she grabbed her ear and pulled her up. "Ow, ow. Ow, ow, ow!"

"No, wait, Tohru! You don't understand! I don't want to kiss him!"

"I CANNOT believe you, Riku! I know for a fact that you were raised better than to fool around with three men! I can't believe I'm saying this, but—wait. What?"

"I said I didn't want to—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I heard that part. I just can't believe it." Tohru let go of her ear, looking at her in disbelief. "So you're saying you _don't _want to kiss Shigure?"

Riku rubbed her bruised ear, looking at Tohru with equal disbelief. "Are you kidding? The only sucker I want to land on him is the one that comes before the word punch!"

They both looked over to him as he let out a strangled cry. Turning, he angrily pointed a finger at Riku. "YOU! This is all your fault for dragging me in here. I _told_ you it wasn't a good idea to come in here!"

Looking at the remains of Shigure's office door, Riku had to hold back a smirk. "Boo-hoo-hoo. Cry me a river."

Tohru jumped slightly as she heard a low growl. "Why you little…!"

Jolting, Riku started toward the entrance, pushing past Hatori and Ayame. Pausing for a brief moment, she turned back around and said, "I'd love to go on both dates," she jumped as she saw Shigure's angry face push through the crowd, "but perhaps we can discuss details later!"

She ran to the front door and opened it, immediately tripping over something. Doing a somersault in mid-air, she landed gracefully in a face-plant on the sidewalk. Knowing Shigure was about to do the same thing, she panicked.

"No, wait! St—"

That sentence was forcefully cut off for she had no more air left to breathe, let alone speak, as Shigure landed quite painfully on her back. Gasping, she gathered enough breath to barely cry out, "Get off of me, you weigh a ton!"

Feeling the pressure disappear from her back, she sighed in relief and rolled over. Scowling at Shigure, who was scowling right back at her, she pushed herself up to see what had tripped them both.

She was quite surprised to see that it was a little girl, no more than 5, curled up in a ball on the doorstep. Her face paled considerably as the little girl stood up and exclaimed in recognition,

"Hey, it's that Onee-san from the park! Aerie finally found you! Aerie was wondering if she would be able to play with your big doggy! Is he here?"


End file.
